Tires are likely the single most frequent repair or replacement item on a motor vehicle. The carriage of a spare tire is nearly universal in motor vehicles, with the exception being vehicles equipped with newer “run-flat” type tires. No other repair or replacement item or part is nearly so likely to be carried in a motor vehicle as a spare tire.
Motor vehicle tires have become considerably more reliable over the years, but total reliability is yet to be achieved. At the same time, motor vehicles have generally become heavier, with their wheels and tires becoming correspondingly larger and heavier as well. In past generations, the fifteen-inch wheel and a relatively narrow tire was the norm for full-size vehicles, but wheel and tire sizes have been increasing to ever larger diameters and widths, with corresponding weight increases, as the years have progressed.
In the past, it was considered routine to remove a flat tire and replace it with a spare tire carried in the vehicle. Even relatively small people could handle a standard tire, albeit with some degree of effort and exertion. With ever larger tires and wheels, many drivers (both male and female) find themselves unable to handle the weight and bulk of a tire from their vehicle when a roadside tire change is required, particularly in the case of larger sport-utility vehicles with wheels ranging perhaps up to nineteen inches in diameter. Yet, very little has been done in the past to aid the driver in this task.
Thus, a tire-handling device solving the aforementioned problems is desired.